One woman shouted “scumbag” as Eldridge made his way to custody from the dock in the court after the verdict and peered briefly over to his relatives crying in the public gallery.

Eldridge’s trial began on January 16, after the jury were sworn in on January 15, and lasted exactly two weeks.

Judge Stephen Warner will sentence Eldridge on February 20 at the same court and warned “it will take a great deal of persuasion for me to pass anything other than a significant custodial sentence”.

Victim’s bravery praised

During the trial the court heard from one of his victims, who had been sexually assaulted by Eldridge while he helped her change out of a swimming costume.

In a video shown to the court, the girl told a police officer that he had “touched me”.

She was given a doll and asked to point to where the defendant had touched her and she pointed to the “pee pee” – the genital area.

Children’s protection charity the NSPCC has praised the bravery of the girl for coming forward to report the crime.

He touched the girl while helping her change out of a swimming costume (Image: Alison Jenkins)

An NSPCC spokesman said: “As a teacher Eldridge should have protected children but instead he manipulated and abused his young victims for his own sordid pleasure.

“He has been brought to justice thanks, in part, to the bravery one girl showed in speaking out, following a discussion with her mum.

“This shows how vitally important it is to empower young people from an early age and the NSPCC encourages parents to talk about sexual abuse, speaking out and staying safe, using the age-appropriate PANTS rule.

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Alexander Eldridge court appearances

“Anyone concerned about the welfare of a child, inappropriate behaviour of an adult, or any other safeguarding issue can call the NSPCC helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000.”

Eldridge liked little girls

After further investigation, officers discovered pictures of children in “various states of undress” including ones of “genitalia” from July 2016 – which had since been deleted from a memory card of Eldridge's.

He had also downloaded two indecent images of children – one was a category C image and one was a more serious category B image.

Prosecutor Sarah Morris added: “They found a video taken by him on a GoPro camera, it had been uploaded to his black Dell in July 2017.

“In that video we can see the defendant, he has a five-year-old girl on his lap. What the Crown says is that he lifted up her skirt, then he put the camera between her legs and filmed it.”

Police officers found two indecent images of children downloaded from the internet on Eldridge's computer (Image: Alison Jenkins)

Pictures of little girls “going down slides” with their “pants” being revealed as “their skirts are going up” were also discovered on the computers taken by officers.

“Why did he do it? The Crown says it is because he likes little girls,” Ms Morris said.

Eldridge was found alone with a pupil on his knee

The court also heard from Eldridge’s former colleagues, with one woman saying she felt “concerned” about his relationship with the children.

She also felt “wrong” after discovering him photographing a child alone in a classroom.

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Eldridge has been remanded into custody and is next due to appear at St Albans Crown Court for sentencing on Tuesday, February 20.

Detective Constable Anthony Hooper, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Joint Child Protection Investigation Team, said: “This has been an emotional case for all involved and we are very pleased Eldridge has been found guilty due to the severity of his offending.

“Our team of detectives have worked extremely hard to bring this case to court and we would like to commend the bravery of the victims and their families.